Section 21 notice - Any options to extend?

bamgbost

Hi

We have been surprisingly given a section 21 notice. after being at the flat for almost 3 years.

This wouldnt have been too bad, except for the fact that we are looking to buy. Have put an offer in on a property which only yesterday got accepted.

informed agent / landlord that can we get a brief extension, maybe 1-2months based on the fact that we are now in chain and hopefully things will complete in approx 3months. However landlord has refused (which is her right i know).

But is there any further grounds for wanting to stay longer.

There is now 5.5 weeks left of the 2 month section 21 notice. We have 2 kids, and it will be a ball ache to have to firstly find and then move into some sort of short term accomodation, only to have to move again on completion of purchase.

and if we do have to move (as is looking increasingly likely) what websites can offer a family of 4 such a short tenancy ( of maybe 2 months!). Grrrrrrrr!

(just a bit of a rant, i really thought landlord will give us the brief time needed, as we had something in place and 2 kids)

Rambosmum

The section 21 is only a notice to evict, you don't actually have to leave on the date - only you or the court/ a judge can actually make you leave.


If I were you, I'd sit tight. Let the section 21 run out and just keep paying rent. As long as you keep paying rent you'll be fine - the landlord can then go to court, for which you'll be liable for costs, however that'll be cheaper than moving in to temporary accommodation and it is unlikely to get that far, it can take a long while.


The other option of course is you find a 6 month let asap, negotiate with the LL to leave sooner than the 5 week and not pay the rent for the time left. House buying is full of twists and turns and can take much longer than you think. The only tenancies shorter than 6 months are holiday lets, which are obviously much more expensive and furnished, so you'd then have to store your stuff. The reason for this is that the minimum amount of time someone can live somewhere before being evicted is 6 months.

saajan_12

Section 21 = notice of intention to apply for a possession order.

It is not your marching orders since the landlord alone cannot terminate a tenancy, only the tenant / court can. There's many more steps, all of which take time
1. LL serves S21 order
2. Wait for S21 to expire (min 2 calendar months)
3. LL applies to court for possession order
4. If S21 valid, court grants a possession order. If invalid, go back to step (1)
5. Wait for possession order to expire (2-6 weeks)
6. LL applies for bailiffs
7. Bailiffs visit and evict you (2-6 weeks)

So all in, the process can take 1-3 months after your S21 expires or longer if the LL makes a mistake. This may well be enough time for your purchase and if not, you may be able to ask the LL / court to give you an extra week or two if your purchase is imminent.

You will have to pay rent until the tenancy is terminated by the court or until you move out (whichever is later) and be liable for the LL's court / bailiff costs, but this will likely be cheaper than another rental.

campbell19925

What does your tenancy agreement say? For my curiosity.

Pixie5740

Read G_M's Guide to Ending/Renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

sal_III

I'm in a very similar situation to yours. You can find a lot of useful information in my thread from last month:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5856984/section-21-notice-conflicts-with-the-ast-terms

First step is to check if the section 21 notice is even valid, I found that this tool is very comprehensive:

https://markprichard.co.uk/content/documents/180408-Section-21-checker-tool.pdf

If it's valid, then you have to make a decision whether you want to wait for the court to issue an eviction notice and risk having to find short term let without references, or bite the bullet and leave on good terms.

In my case I have already exchanged on a new build due for completion in early September with Section 21 notice end date of 27.07 I plan to "ride the storm" with hopes that the court decision will be delayed 1-2 months, giving me enough time to move. I have a contingency already in terms of where to stay and store the furniture, but like you said, with 2 kids it's a ballache to move short term.

All the best with the house hunting.

bamgbost

Cheers guys for the immediate suggestions and advice.
Will continue to dig deeper when I get home from work. But good tips so far.

Bean83

We had to move in to short term rental last year when our buying/selling time-frames didn't tally - we had to sign a 6 month contract but were only actually there for just over 2 months. We had an agreement (in writing!) with the letting agency that if we needed to leave early, they would re-advertise the house and we would only pay rent until they found someone else to take it over (we had to pay £300 're-advertising fee' too, a total rip-off but they had us over a barrel and they knew it!). We were lucky in that they found someone who wanted to rent the place immediately, so we paid 3 months rent in the end instead of 6. Not ideal as it comes with a bit of a risk, but an option consider if you end up having to move out!

FBaby

The LL should know that handing in an S21 doesn't mean that you'll be gone after that date, but extending it makes the process more complicated, so might very well be fine with you staying (assuming you are continuing to pay), just don't want to make it an agreement.

bamgbost

If we use this approach of "just staying and paying".
Can anything be done against us. credit history wise, or refusal to give deposit back, when we eventually leave.

I guess obviously we shouldnt go back to them for reference lol.

sal_III

As far as I understand the only think that might impact your credit history is if it goes to court, LL wins and you fail to pay costs. If you pay the costs it's like any other civil court case.

LL won't have grounds to hold the deposit, but that doesn't mean he/she won't try to be difficult and withhold it as long as possible. Just be prepared to go without it for a while and use the deposit scheme arbitration process to get it back (it's protected right?)